


What We Do

by emberfire411



Category: Winx Club
Genre: (more characters will be added as they appear), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Burn, post-season 3, slowly turns into an AU, with all the basic plot-lines still intact
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-22 07:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11962608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emberfire411/pseuds/emberfire411
Summary: She lets him live. After that, everything changes





	1. Live

She lets him live.

Looking back, Bloom decides she allows this to happen for two reasons. One is the fact that Baltor - despite being a power hungry, poorly dressed sorcerer with a mile-long hit list and a black hole where his heart should be - is human. She hated Lord Darkar, and still has no problem admitting so. And Bloom knows in the back of her mind that has to do with the fact his humanity had been lost long ago. She could've spent years trying to coax his original self back from under the barren shell of the Lord of Shadowhaunt, but it would've never done any good because the human in him had died long ago. Erasing him from existence had been easy (the kidnapping and brainwashing her into an evil henchman also helped). Baltor obviously had problems, but he looked like a human and spoke like a human (with a slight case of demon possession, but she’s sure a few spells can fix that), which to Bloom made him human. She's never taken a life before, and doesn’t plan to start now.

The other reason is much more selfish, if she actually stops and thinks about it. The longer their battles went on, the more it became obvious Baltor was just as clueless about her parents as Bloom. This in truth was a good sign; it meant her parents might still be alive. Hell, her whole planet could still be alive under the layers of ice and rock, knowing the Ancestresses and their tricks. And she wants them to be alive. It's a desperate feeling that twists her insides at night when she tries to sleep.

But more prominent than that desperation, is the creeping feeling she's wrong. That the months, years of her life dedicated to resurrecting a dead planet will ultimately fail, because that seems to be the only thing she can do in reference to Sparx. And not only would she be hailed as the failure of her home world, but also as the last person left of it.

The latter of those two thoughts that scared her most. Her mother always said she had a fear of being alone, and tried to equate it to some deep-rooted trauma left over from her adoption. Bloom doesn’t really care about the reason. What she does know is that there’s exactly one other person left with a connection to her home world and her powers, even if he is insane. And if she did kill him only to fail later on resurrecting Sparx, she would have no one to blame for that loneliness but herself.

That thought was more terrifying than anything else.

So she improvises.

 

The party celebrating Baltor's 'death' is full of dancing, kissing, and drinking. Bloom does her best to act both happy and humble about her not-really-real victory. In the end she doesn't need to act very hard, because everyone's so busy celebrating they don't notice how nervous she is.

Nor does anyone notice her sneaking off a mere ninety minutes into the party, walking through the trees at the edge of the clearing and not coming back.

Icy, Darcy, and Stormy had given up the location of their last hideout when the Light Rock guards showed up. It had been cleared of all the stolen spell books and artifacts in record time, becoming just a cave under Magix by the time Bloom gets there. Since no smart villain returns to a hideout once it’s discovered, and Baltor is the least-idiotic villain she's ever faced, Bloom figures she can keep him there for the time being (Step One of Improvising: Use a combination of invisibility and levitation spells to bring said unconscious villain to their former hideout).

Her fairy dust doesn’t destroy Baltor; it can only get rid of dark spells. But luckily, that meant it could destroy the nasty demon the Ancestresses had infected him with. And Bloom figures the few hours she’s spent getting ready for and attending the celebrations will be enough time for the spell to do its work, and for her to formulate a plan.

Both her assumptions are correct when she enters the largest cavern and finds Baltor very much awake, struggling at the fire chains (Step Two of Improvising: Lock villain up with Dragon Fire chains) keeping him pinned to the stone chair. He looks worse for wear, the bottom of his jacket singed black and blood in his hair. A bruise is starting to show on his collarbone, green and purple mixing together and contrasting against his pale skin. Even his eyes, such a stunning shade of light blue, look dull in the faint lighting. Bloom's never seen him look this bad, but at least he's still alive.

He stops struggling when she comes into view. Bloom waits for him to say something or start yelling, but the cavern is silent aside from the occasional water droplets hitting the floor from a crack in the ceiling. He looks at her like he wants the gods above to come down and smite her, and it makes Bloom feel powerful. That, and the fact she sees his hands twitch in the chains, trying to summon magic that won't come to his fingers.

"I assume you've heard of the Nullis Lux spell." Bloom finally speaks. "It originated in one of the books you stole. It’s also Griselda’s favorite to cast on the freshman when they break the rules."

The answer to her question is obviously a yes, because for a moment Bloom sees fear in his eyes. "You used the Nullis Lux spell on me?" he finally asks. His voice is hoarse, and Bloom can see red on his teeth.

"I did."

Baltor rolls his eyes, and spits a mouthful of blood out on the ground (though not in Bloom's general direction, which makes her feel a bit better). "That's impossible. The spell takes away the powers of the weaker being; there's no way you could've beaten me so easily."

Bloom has to smirk at his still-inflated ego. "You should thank Professor Avalon. He taught me fairy dust could remove dark entities, even though you tried to tell me otherwise. After that was gone…well, stripping your personal powers weren't that much of a problem." (Step Three of Improvising: Use a magic spell to get rid of your enemy's power) Baltor coughs and spits another mouthful of blood out in response, and Bloom involuntarily winces. "How do you feel?"

He glares at her. "Like shit, no thanks to you."

"You're welcome for sparing your life."

"Please. I don't want your pity."

"I didn't help you because I pity you." Bloom takes a few tentative steps forward and sits on the stone floor, a good distance from Baltor. "You've killed hundreds of people and caused millions of dollars in damages all because you couldn't win a fight. Your ego could cover my entire hometown and then some; I'm way past pity."

"Then educate me, Your Highness. What caused your change of heart?"

Bloom doesn't answer his question. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't want to be sent back to the Omega Dimension for all eternity. And lucky for you, there's an alternative solution."

"Lucky me," he quips. "What deserted dungeon do you plan to imprison me in?"

"Earth."

His head snaps back to look at her; the first time he’s truly acknowledging her since she entered the room. "You must be joking."

"Nope. Earth is a magic-less world with enough government to keep you in check. And who knows; maybe if you don't try to overtake it, I could give you your powers back." Even as Bloom says it she knows it isn’t that good of a sell; especially for someone like Baltor. But she’s banking on his desire to regain the love of his life (power) to sway him to her favor.

No such luck. "So you're keeping me alive as a pet project? A convict you can reform into a respectable member of society?"

"You're not a pet project; once I send you to Earth you could walk into the White House and proclaim yourself leader of the free world for all I care. But I'm warning you; you won't get very far without your powers."

Baltor glares at her. "Sending me to Earth with a lack of powers still sounds like a pet project. Since this has turned into some sort of honesty hour, you must humor me; why not kill me?"

"Do you want to die?" He huffs and doesn't meet her eye, which is the closest thing to a yes she's going to get. "So again, you're welcome."

"…You've never killed someone before, have you?"

Bloom looks up in surprise. Baltor's gaze is still on the wall, but he keeps talking to her. "You don't want to ever know what it's like. Standing over someone and watching their life fade from their eyes. It doesn't even matter if you meant to do it; you get this feeling that washes over you that you can't place, and it stays with you for weeks on end. And by the time you do work out what it is, you've killed too many people to care."

The speech he gives is unprompted, but Bloom would be lying if she said it hadn't been in the back of her mind. "What's the feeling?" she asks when he still won't look at her.

"Emptiness." There's a beat, and he finally looks back at her. "No one would've objected to you killing me."

"I know."

He gives a humorless laugh. "Do they know you didn't kill me?"

She debates lying to him, but knows if she does now things will just get worse down the line. "No, they don't."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're a coward who fears death…and I'm a coward that fears loneliness."

To her surprise, he smiles. Not a full smile – there's still a hint of a smirk behind it, but for the time being, she'll take it. "We're in each other’s hands, then."


	2. Chapter 2

He gets an apartment in London.

Looking back, Baltor decides he allows this to happen for two reasons. One is that he really doesn’t have a choice. He can either lay low on this horrendously awful planet and try to build his power back with what he can find (which, wouldn’t be a lot, but possibly enough to begin regaining his powers), or he can return to the magic dimension and be immediately imprisoned (or worse). The first of those two options sounds infinitely better.

The other reason is much more selfish, but considering he’s now being kept prisoner by a redheaded, goody-two-shoes teenager with a surprising amount of crop tops, he thinks he’s entitled to be a little selfish. And that reason is - with it’s lack of magic and abundance of ancient buildings and history - he quite likes London.

And Bloom does not.

 

“England? You _had_ to pick England?” Bloom mutters under breath as she walks in the door. Miscellaneous bags practically spill out of her hands. Baltor glances over his shoulder, tearing his eyes away from the city outside his window. There isn’t much to do with the place; most of the amenities are modern (by Earth standard) and don't require any attention. Not to mention Bloom hovering around to help him ‘settle in.’ “I know how America works, that would be an easy place to set you up. I even have a second cousin in Canada I visited when I was fourteen - but no. You pick here.”

“I suppose it’s your fault for making my prison so big,” he responds dryly.

She gives a small smile that’s more polite than genuine, and Baltor takes notice of it. “So far today I’ve learned there’s no such thing as a dollar bill - or, pound note, here. But there are pound coins, and a twenty pence coin but no twenty-five pence coin. I don’t even know what a National Insurance Number is, or how to fake one for records, but I’m hoping Tecna has some gadget I can sneak to help me. Also I heard two separate conversations on the street complaining about something called Barclays? I don’t know if it’s a bank or a retail shop, but either way I’d avoid it.” She pauses, taking a bottle of laundry detergent out of a bag. “You probably understood none of that.”

“Currency, documents, and something about clay.”

“Close enough,” she sighs. “Seriously, you didn’t like New York? It’s almost the same atmosphere, but no accents.”

“It isn’t the same,” he says easily. “New York was new. This place has a sense of time to it. It,” he pauses for moment, debating whether he should continue, but after a second decides _what the hell_ , these last few days don’t make any sense so what’s wrong with some honesty? “It’s a lot like Sparx.”

Bloom genuinely perks up at this. “It is?”

“Yes. The planet was in the middle of a technological boom when you were born. It was adopting the advancements readily available from Magix and Zenith - and doing it much more quickly than other places like Solaria. Newer buildings were coming up where there was space, but the main city still felt very ancient. Your parents were _adamant_ about building a competition arena in order to place a bid for the Magix Games…” he trails off at the mention of Oritel and Miriam, not meeting Bloom’s eyes. “It was quite a time, indeed.”

When he finally glances back, she doesn’t bother trying to hide her resentment. “And you ruined it all.” she says quietly. Not an accusation, but a statement.

Baltor merely nods. “I did.”

Somehow, that sentence seems to quell her anger, and Bloom drops the topic. “So anyway, I found out there are a few takeout places down the road from here, since I’m assuming you have no idea how to cook.”

“Bloom.”

She doesn’t hear him, taking a soap container out of one of the bags and putting it away under the sink. “There’s a Thai place, a sandwich shop, and a sushi place. I’m personally not a sushi person, but they have ramen which are like noodles but -”

“Stop,” he says, louder, and she glances up at him, surprised. “You don’t need to do this. Any of this,” he waves a hand around the room, gesturing to the bookshelf and the computer and the curtains he’s going to rip off the wall the moment she leaves. “I understand you feel a sense of guilt - though I’m honestly not sure who it’s towards - but you don’t have to help me with anything. We don’t have to be friends - we don’t have to be anything besides people who see each other once a year to make sure the other is alive. I have no problem with it.”

Bloom folds her arms, a gesture Baltor has come to find out means she’s uncomfortable. “Why would I be guilty?” she finally asks.

“Because you’ve left your sworn enemy alive? Because you’re lying to your friends? Because your planet is still gone?”

“It won’t be forever.”

That sentence stops him in his tracks. “What?”

She smirks at him - which honestly is something he’s never seen on her face before. “As touching as it is having you around, I would like to meet my parents someday. And since you don’t have any idea where they are, I can only assume they’re alive somewhere. So I’m going to find them, and then I’m going to resurrect Sparx.”

For a moment, Baltor honestly believes she’s kidding. But the determination on her face is too legitimate. He almost laughs at her, but he feels too much pity to do it. “And you’re going to do this...alone?” he treads lightly. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he upset her, but it might make her less willing to lift the Nullis Lux spell someday.

“Of course not. The girls and the Specialists are helping.”

Ah. The Specialists. The Winx would always stay in his mind - their constant haggling and meddling with his plans. But the boys were much less of a threat and therefore more forgettable. “So your plan for regaining a lost world is in the hands of your little friends and a group of Specialists I managed to kidnap less than a month ago?”

“C’mon, you were just talking about how great it was! Wouldn’t it be nice to have our home planet back?”

“Of course it would,” he says, somewhat irritated. “But I know better than to hope for things that can’t happen.” 

“Well I refuse to believe that. And neither should you; it’s really the least you can do after everything.”

“Do you think I don’t regret destroying Sparx?” Baltor finally snaps at her. “Do you think it brought me immense joy to see it frozen over? Everyone with a connection to the Dragon Fire felt it fade that day.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“It was that or be destroyed by the Ancestresses. As you said, I fear death.”

“My parents -”

“Your parents were monarchs, Bloom. Someone somewhere always hates the damn people. Sparx fought with other planets beforehand, and if by some miracle you do resurrect it, it’ll only be a matter of time before they do it again.”

Bloom’s eyes narrow, and he can feel magic dancing behind them. “Are you trying to deter me?”

“No. I could care less what you do with your free time. I’m making you aware of the situation you’re getting yourself into instead of acting like a petulant child.” He sits down on the couch and looks her in the eye. “It doesn’t suit you.”

He watches the anger fade and a look of surprise cross her face. “...That was almost a compliment.”

She’s genuinely awed, and Baltor gets a strange feeling in his chest at the sight; watching her portray positive emotions when he’s around hasn't exactly been a norm. “Don’t get used to it.” he regains his senses, and turns back to the window.

He can see her in the window reflection. He almost swears he sees her smile, but the light coming through the glass makes it hard to tell. “I won’t. And don’t get used to me stopping by all the time. Once you have everything here I’m going back to my own life.”

“I dread the thought,” Baltor smirks. He watches her turn and head for the door, and after a moment of contemplation decides to try one more time. 

“I meant what I said, Bloom,” he turns to look at her, and she stops and looks over her shoulder. “It took a month of legal work and holding before they sent me to the Omega dimension. I heard of countless search parties being set up - members of the Magix Council demanding rescue operations come back with positive results. You aren’t the first person to try and resurrect Sparx, and you won’t be the last. Revel in the fact you survived a genocide, and move forward.”

He expects a sort of empowering speech in return - something Faragonda would say that’ll make his ears bleed and his fingers twitch to use a now non-existent voice stealing spell.

He doesn’t expect a cheeky grin and a wink. “You know, if you weren’t so psychotic and depressing, you'd be fun to hang around.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barclays, by the way, is a bank. I've been told it sucks.

**Author's Note:**

> Previously available on FFN, What We Do is making the move over to Ao3. Partially because I need more stories up here, partially because down the line when this turns M I won't have to worry about it being reported.
> 
> Updates are happening every Wednesday until the story is concurrent with the one on FFN. After that, the updates will be whenever the chapters are done.
> 
> Other Notes from the original chapter:
> 
> The Nullis Lux is Latin for "no power"
> 
> Baltor is the name the 4Kids! dub gave Valtor in Winx Club. I watched 4Kids! and am a bitter old fandom grandma, so it's staying Baltor for this story. The same rules apply for Sparx, the 4Kids! name for Domino.
> 
> Because this story is written as a series of looks into Bloom and Baltor's lives, chapters will be on the shorter side. While this is sad, the idea is this will allow for more updates, which everyone loves.


End file.
